Cardiac kids: Why Detroit Red Wings are getting more comfortable in close games
The Red Wings were stuck in a 5-game losing streak, each one of the losses by a single goal. But after winning 2 of 3, their comfort level in tight games is rising.
The bad news for the Detroit Red Wings is that they were caught in a 5-game losing skid, all of which were by a single goal.
The good news for the Red WIngs is that since then, they've won two of their last three games, Saturday night's win over the divisional foe Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit turned to an unlikely hero on Saturday, as defenseman Jeff Petry picked up his first pair of goals this year, which included the game winner in the 3rd period less than a minute after the Leafs had tied the game.
Coach Derek Lalonde explained that despite the frustrating losses, Detroit's underlying numbers painted a more positive picture.
We need to slip some of those tight games, and we've done that in two of our last three to get some traction here.
Lalonde also indicated that his team was feeling more and more comfortable in the close games that they eventually earned wins in against Buffalo and Toronto.
Hang in there with your game and make that play, and be comfortable in those situations, which I thought for the most part against Toronto, we were comfortable in that game.
The Red Wings need to continue having that comfortable feeling with the Flyers on deck for a rematch of last week's 4-1 loss at Wells Fargo Center.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 16 | 74 ANSWERS Cardiac kids: Why Detroit Red Wings are getting more comfortable in close games Do you take Derek Lalonde's words to heart and believe that the Red Wings are growing more comfortable in tight games? | ||
| Yes, they showed resilience against BUF/TOR | 30 | 40.5 % |
| No, they're still not where they should be. | 44 | 59.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
